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Today the European Parliament adopted a report calling for greater cooperation to tackle organised crime, corruption and money laundering in the European Union. Liberal Democrat MEP for the East Midlands Bill Newton Dunn, who has been fighting for these issues to be dealt with on a political level for years, welcomed the outcome of the vote.

Bill Newton Dunn MEP commented:

“Hundreds of billions of pounds worth of taxes are lost every year across Europe due to organised crime, as well as millions of legitimate jobs which have been taken out of the grasp of hard-working citizens. Fraud, counterfeiting, smuggling and cyber-crime are all having a drastic impact on the economy and are undermining efforts to promote jobs and growth. Britain is particularly affected, with half of Europol’s investigations into organised crime having links to the UK.”

“It is truly shocking that a maximum of five per cent of all containers entering Europe, by road, rail, sea or air, are ever checked at the borders. It is so easy for the criminals to bring in whatever they choose.”

“Organised criminals can cross borders and make use of the internet to commit crimes which individual law enforcement bodies find it very hard to detect. That is why we need legislative action and political will from national governments to tackle this problem together and successfully.”

The European Parliament’s special committee on organised crime will submit a final report on its work to plenary in October.